Second...I noticed that there's a lot of experience here...I hope to glean some of that.

I recently came into possession of a 1995 yj for the deal of the century...free! I'm elated! I am new to the forums, but not to jeeps. Although I haven't had one for close to 20 years. My first jeep was a Willy's 48/49 cj. Man, I miss that one.

The wife and I took the yj, which is pure stock, btw, out for a drive in the snow. It was a good trip, but I quickly realized that the yj needs some work....of course. new tires, a lift and so on.

The major down side is that the engine is the stock 2.5 litre. (insert sad face here). However, again, for free...I'm not complaining one bit. And who knows, the Great Jeep Project may have a new engine in the future!

So...this is where I need advice....with such a task a head, where do I start? Lift? Suspension?

Like I mentioned...it's stock. NOTHING is or has been upgraded.

Probable the first thing I will be doing is getting her in the air a bit. I will be doing a shackle lift, probably this weekend. The shackles that are on it now are the stock, 5" C-C shackles. I'm making my own and giving it another 2" on that, making them 7" C-C. I'm a machinist, so making them is easy for me.

I intend the jeep to be a weekend driver in the hills, off-road with some occasional technical stuff. No major rock crawling, but some mud, snow and such.

So, what do you figure the priorities should be? Anyone have maybe a list of "things to do" for building a decent off-roader?

I learned the hard way!! The absolute first thing i would do is start looking or an explorer 8.8 rear axle. You can ask anybody that d35 is worthless! Trust me I grenaded the gears in mine 3 times before I learned. If you plan to run 33s or bigger its gonna crap out on you no matter how carefull you are.

I am pretty sure people are going to tell you dont do a 3" lift shackle. It is dangerous, if you want a cheap lift go with Rough Country you can buy a 2.5in lift for 400 or a 4in lift for the same price. If you watch roughcountry.com everyday til christmas they normally have very good sales and could possibly and probably can get the lift for i think 300. Its better to do it right the first time them wrong. With the 4in kit, you can fit 33in tires if you want a little more room for flex you can get a pair of tj flares. The 2.5 kit can fit 31s or sometimes 32s with the flares or body lift.

If you do go with the 33s I would suggest regearing your axles since you have the 4 cylinder, it can be done but WILL be slow. haha Also, right now would be the best time to get the 8.8 axles, with the cash for clunkers there are a lot of them out there, you dont need it with 33s or smaller but its helpfull. Hope it helps.

I am pretty sure people are going to tell you dont do a 3" lift shackle. It is dangerous, if you want a cheap lift go with Rough Country you can buy a 2.5in lift for 400 or a 4in lift for the same price. If you watch roughcountry.com everyday til christmas they normally have very good sales and could possibly and probably can get the lift for i think 300. Its better to do it right the first time them wrong. With the 4in kit, you can fit 33in tires if you want a little more room for flex you can get a pair of tj flares. The 2.5 kit can fit 31s or sometimes 32s with the flares or body lift.

If you do go with the 33s I would suggest regearing your axles since you have the 4 cylinder, it can be done but WILL be slow. haha Also, right now would be the best time to get the 8.8 axles, with the cash for clunkers there are a lot of them out there, you dont need it with 33s or smaller but its helpfull. Hope it helps.

Actually, I don't plan on a 3" inch lift, just a 1" or 2". What about those? What have you heard?